Complaints
Over the years of dealing in high end audio we have found 99% of deals go well. Every rare once in a while however, things don’t. As part of our service to try to be as ethical in our dealings with every customer as we can, we have decided to try something that’s never been done before. We are going to post actual “complaints” from any customer who has dealt with us and had any kind of problem ... here at our our Web Site for everyone to see!
Initially, we thought this was just too radical an idea, after all no-one does it because it could hurt their business. Why would you deal with someone if they have had a complaint? The answer is, everyone has an occasional unhappy customer, it is a sad but true fact. The difference here is we are going to actually tell you about them … and the outcome we were able to arrive at whether positive or negative. We believe by doing this we are showing you how hard we really do try to make every customer a happy one, even if we are not 100% successful at it. So it’s up to you to decide if HigherFi is the kind of place you want to do business with. We hope it is.
If you have had a complaint with us, send us an email and it will appear here. I trust this brave step will encourage others who sell used gear to do the same, to keep the ethics high and strive to provide better service.
ALL COMPLAINTS SINCE 1/1/1998 (Latest last, oldest first.)
Kim Pham, Switzerland.
COMPLAINT: Audio Research M300 amps amps arrived, but after several hours of use, one of the amps stopped working. Buyer requested help with repairs and ordering new parts.
OUTCOME: HigherFi promptly contacted ARC to help research problem and determined tubes were damaged in transit. HigherFi ordered replacement parts at cost, paid shipping costs, and sent them to buyer. Buyer now happy and inquiring about making another purchase.
Satisfactory resolution.
Teik Goh, England.
COMPLAINT: HigherFi shipped Wadia 21 CD Player but when it arrived it had a small scratch on the top of one of the support end caps. Unit was represented as mint.
OUTCOME: It was determined that the units end cap was damaged in shipment and so we ordered a replacement part ($20) and shipped it to seller. Seller happy and offered to write a reference letter.
Satisfactory resolution.
Steve Slaughter, USA.
COMPLAINT: HigherFi shipped Melos Triode 200+ amp but 2 tubes became detached – but still worked fine after re-seating, so no problem here. Buyer wrote “4 ohm taps clip like crazy with ML CLS’s”. The 8 ohm taps worked great. Seller checking with Melos about 4 ohm tap concern.
OUTCOME: HigherFi should have secured tubes better, however no damage due to our oversight. Amp was tested and sounded great prior to shipping. Customer sent amp to Melos to be checked out Melos agreed amp had been damaged in shipping not due to HigherFi’s fault. Customer then wrote: “In the end it was a pleasure doing business with you and based on your handling of the situation I will recommend your operation to my friends.”
Satisfactory resolution.
Peter Sun, Hong Kong.
COMPLAINT: HigherFi shipped YBA1HC amp but amp didn’t work on arrival. Amp was taken in to be checked, seller was told amp had been submerged in MUD! Seller demanded a full and immediate refund.
OUTCOME: HigherFi had shipped the unit “fully functional” and had also taken photos of inside of amp which were sent to seller beforehand. No sign of any damage as described above. HigherFi requested seller follow two steps. 1) Secure a second opinion regarding damage 2) Inquire with insurance company about a claim. HigherFi offered to pay for repairs if insurance did not cover them. Seller refused to perform intitial steps and said they would post negative messages about HigherFi instead.
Unsatisfactory resolution.
Sam Lin, USA.
COMPLAINT: HigherFi shipped ARC D100B amp. Buyer found that one channel was not working and amp was blowing fuses. Requested help solving problem.
OUTCOME: It was determined amp was dropped by UPS which caused internal short on one channel. HigherFi worked with buyer and with UPS to get claim processed. Amp was returned to Audio Research for repairs, paid for by UPS. Amp ended up being better than it was when sold.
Satisfactory resolution.
Reynold Meni , USA.
COMPLAINT: HigherFi shipped expensive Kimber interconnects to buyer. Buyer found that one connector was sometimes intermittent and as such irritating. Customer was concerned since cables had been stated as dealer demo’s.
OUTCOME: HigherFi agreed to replace customers cable with another of the same model.
Satisfactory resolution.
P. Morris, England.
COMPLAINT: HigherFi shipped Watt/Puppy 5.1 to customer in England. Customer hooked up speaker and found one of the tweeters occasionally “buzzed” and requested help to solve problem.
OUTCOME: It was determined tweeter was shaken in shipping causing it to become misaligned. A new tweeter was ordered and paid for by HigherFi.
Satisfactory resolution.
Larry Garber, Mexico.
COMPLAINT: Purchased a demo Mag-Lev shelf from us. Expected to get a two panel shelf but got a single panel shelf. Said we tried to run a “scam” and didn’t deliver what we said. Very unhappy and demanded instant refund. Larry felt we were misleading people.
OUTCOME: HigherFi promptly emailed Larry back on all emails sent, we explained the model he got was a later single shelf model as shown in the photo in the ad and that he was confusing an older 2 shelf model with our current 1 shelf version. Buyer was not satisfied with our answer so we promptly refunded 100% of all payments made + shipping to customer.
Unsatisfactory resolution.